September 2009 Archives

I had a great trip to watch the nationals, I flew to Birmingham on Weds 16th after work & Angela met me at the airport, she had took her car over on the boat in the morning. We got up early on Thurs & headed over to little chef for our breaky then off to Stoneleigh. I had to make my first purchase of the day as it was bleeding freezing so I bought myself a hoody to warm up. I was pretty overwhelmed by all the gorgeous horses in the warm up arena, I enjoyed watching them warm up as much as watching them do their tests. We stayed there all day, watching & browsing around the stalls, I took note of anything that caught my eye to see if I could get it second hand on ebay, cheeky I know, but needs must! The para class was on early on the friday, first class of the day, so again we were up with the larks. I got to watch all the top riders which was really good. I managed to watch the whole class, they have really nice horses, I think Bernie has a bit more training to do to get to their level, I should've took some video of them to show him so he can see what he's got to do, he likes to learn. When I was away he had his lesson's with Janet, Bev said they went really well & Janet was pleased with him.

Last monday I had a lesson with Clive, I took an extra long lunch. I was really happy with how it went & B was sweating more than me for once. Good job really because I don't think anyone would want to sit near me when I got back to work if I was as sweaty as B. Angela had a lesson on the Tuesday with Clive to give B some extra training, she said hers was really good too.

I had an affiliated competition on sat, I was on at 9.51 so it was a kick out of bed at half 6 to get Bernie all plaited & looking sexy. Our plan was to ride down so we were there at about 9.15, didn't go to plan though, because I wanted to plait B myself I was a bit late getting myself ready so we got there a bit later than planned & I didn't give myself enough time to warm B up for his first test, I was wanting to get past the 60% barrier especially with having a list 1 judge there, but I only had myself to blame, lesson learnt for next time! B is getting much better at concentrating now though so that's a barrier I have got through. We then had a second test at 10.30 in the short arena, he went a lot better for me in that test as I'd had longer to work on him. We got 59.1% for our first test & I won some chocs for the quality of my canter work, which was a nice boost for me, just need to work more on the trot, still!!! I got 60.4% in my second test, which I was happy with. I had a lesson on Sunday with the list 1 judge who was judging on sat, Kim Ratcliffe, we came to the conclusion that I did more than I needed to with my hands & relied on them too much for balance, so we were doing an exercise where I rode with my hands out in front with no contact so I could work my core muscles, then we did it without stirrups & then rising trot with out stirrups, phew, I certainly got rid of any wine in my system from the night before, Kim reckons she won't see my name on her lesson list next time she's over, but I enjoy a challenge!

I'm off to watch the Nationals with Angela tomorrow, I'm getting the plane to Birmingham & Angela is picking me up from the airport, it'll be an early start on Thursday as the para class is on which is the reason I'm going to watch, watch & learn, so I'm really looking forward to that, and I'm looking forward to see if there's any bargains. I got myself nice pair of brown leather chaps the other week,off ebay of course, they were a good bargain, brand new in the bag, I love my bargains!

I had a good physio session last week, my knee, back & neck had been really sore so my physio, Isla, got a good few cracks out of my back, I just love that noise, maybe I'm a bit strange, then she worked on my shoulders & knee, they're feeling better now but my lower back is still achey, I blame work, because I felt fine when I went for a hack this evening after work!! I went to pilates on friday morning with my sister Lauren, we're going to try & get there every week to strengthen our inner muscles which should help our riding. On saturday Bernie & I had a dressage comp, he was being quite awkward warming up & stiff on the right so I wasn't expecting a great test, but of course he surprised me & he did some lovely canter work, he just finds transitions from trot to canter a bit hard & hollows, so we'll have to work on that, he could have gone more forward, but I knew he was feeling a bit off & on his way home he stopped for a giant wee, poor Bernie, no wonder he couldn't go forward he was trying to cross his legs, I did try to get him to wee before we went in the warm up but he must've had a bashfull bladder, I'll have to find him somewhere more private next time. I was most surprised when Angela turned up at the farm with mine & Lauren's test sheets & two rosettes, I'd come 2nd with 64.3% & Lauren had come 3rd with 63.4% nothing like a bit of family competition, we were both really happy to break the 60% barrier, Lauren's only just started dressage too, I've managed to get her hooked!

Janet is over this Thurs & Fri, unfortuately I'll miss her as I'm away, but Bernie's going up for a bit of training & Clive is over on Monday so I have a lesson booked with him in my lunch hr. It's my birthday on sat too, I'm feeling a bit old,especially now my son Shayne has started high school, I think 11 is the new 13, Mr attitude, they suddenly think they're grown up as soon as they leave primary school, I'm sure there's plenty more to come though as he gets older & hairier!

My next competition is on the 26th, so lots of work to do up until then, I'm also looking to get back to Vale View in October for some more training, so I've got a bit of saving to do. I've had some dates for para competitions in the new yr too, so I've got them to work towards, I'm hoping it'll be a busy winter, with plenty of training & plenty of competitions, hopefully all scores on Bernie over 60%...........hopefully :o)

I had a great couple of days away, it was pretty windy on Thursday & the plane was rather bouncy coming in to land in Birmingham. I must admit it made me feel a bit nervous & I was scratching round in the seat pocket for the sick bag just in case my nerves got a bit too much! As soon as we were on the ground I was happy again, until I remembered I had to get in the car and brave the motorway behind the wheel, then the sick bag feeling came back. The sat nav was a god send & we only took the wrong directions a couple of times & a couple of hours later, & a break for some lunch we arrived at our destination, a nice cosy B&B, I managed to peel my hands off the steering wheel, white knuckles in tact & wondered what all my worrying was about, it wasn't so bad after all! We were a bit early so we went to the pub for a couple of hours, I think my dad needed a large rum after sitting in the passenger seat next to me!

My lesson was in the evening so I got there half an hr early to get myself re-acquainted with George, just as lovely as I remembered. The lesson was really good and Julie got me sitting nice & straight in trot, it was a lot to concentrate on & I ended the session feeling pretty happy with myself. Julie was great & booked me in for an extra lesson the next day so I had one at 10am & one at 12pm, not long to recover between them. We worked on my position in both lessons & Julie gave me some food for thought & lots to think about when I got home. So after my lessons it was back in the car & on the road again, we got back to the airport with just a couple of hiccups & back on the plane home, which luckily wasn't as bouncy as the way there..

I've got a local competition on sat, I've entered Bernie in a couple of prelim classes so I'll let you know how I get on with my new found position.